Wednesday, January 8

Book Review: Daughters of Rome by Kate Quinn

Author: Kate QuinnTitle: Daughters of Rome (The Empress of Rome #2)Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance, DramaPages: 370First Published: April 5th, 2011Where I Got It: My shelf (won it in a giveaway)"A.D. 69. Nero is dead.The Roman Empire is up for the taking. With bloodshed spilling out of the palace and into the streets of Rome, chaos has become the status quo. The Year of Four Emperors will change everything—especially the lives of two sisters with a very personal stake in the outcome….

Elegant and ambitious, Cornelia embodies the essence of the perfect Roman wife. She lives to one day see her loyal husband as Emperor. Her sister, Marcella, is more withdrawn, content to witness history rather than make it. Even so, Marcella has her share of distinguished suitors, from a cutthroat contender for the throne to a politician’s son who swears that someday he will be Emperor.

But when a bloody coup turns their world upside down, Cornelia and Marcella—along with their cousins, one a collector of husbands and lovers, the other a horse-mad beauty with no interest in romance—must maneuver carefully just to stay alive. As Cornelia tries to pick up the pieces of her shattered dreams, Marcella discovers a hidden talent for influencing the most powerful men in Rome. In the end, though, there can only be one Emperor … and one Empress."

Why oh why did I wait so long to read this?????? This has been sitting on my shelf FOREVER! I told myself I would read it after this book or that book. GAH! SO MUCH TIME HAS BEEN WASTED! Kate Quinn has dazzled me yet again and I truly feel bad that I waited so long to read this.This was just as good as the last one. BUT what makes it better is that this technically takes place before 'Mistress of Rome' and is a sequel in all technicalities. There were so many names that I recognized. I wasn't sure, but once I finished this up I ran to the other book and looked at the character list. AND low and behold there were some characters that were in the first one. I may now have to re-read 'Mistress of Rome' later on this year when I have time. Eeeek! Super excited!Anyways....A very chaotic book. There would be a moment of peace, but an unsettling peace, and then there would be chaos and down goes an emperor. I truly love how Kate Quinn managed to create this sense of unsettling peace. There was always this tenseness going on even when things (on the outside) seemed to be at peace. Even the ending still had some tenseness going on. Kuddos to the author for not only capturing the feeling of the times, but for sucking me into the times. I felt like I was there. The world, yet again, was brought to life. It would be fun for a day (if I wasn't a slave), but I couldn't live in times of such frailness and fear. Yes, being rich was better then being a slave or a soldier, but being rich and powerful had its downfalls. One minute you are sitting high and in the Emperors favor, but the next the Emperor is being murdered and a new one who hates you is taking the throne. *shakes head* I can't imagine living like that.The girls were interesting. I found myself flip-flopping on who I liked and didn't like over and over again. In the end, I did find that I liked all the characters, but Marcella. I pitied her. Poor chit...she got WAAAAY in over her head. *shakes head* Funny thing, though, I really liked her and thought we had a lot in common. Buuuuut she decided to play with the wolves and stop being a watcher, but a player. I can't much else without giving away major spoilers...but I think Cornelia needed to grow up and see that karma did get Marcella in the end and that Marcella seen the errors of her way. Cornelia should have shown a little more compassion and sisterly love. Sighs. Oh well, what can you do? Well, I could go on and on about this book. It was awesome and I spent countless hours just reading this. Sometimes I re-read passages. I really MUST read more of Kate Quinn's books. ^.^ I will not make the mistake and wait nearly 3 years to read it. *face palm* And I call myself a fan. In the end, I adored this book. It was filled with adventure, drama, some comedy, upheavals, wars, romance, and sexy men in uniform. Kate Quinn is truly growing into a fantastic writer and I really must read the next on in the series and her other books that aren't apart of the Rome series. People who love historical fiction will adore this book too. This stands alone very well, by the way. In the end I shall stamp this with 5 stars. Favorite Character(s): Cornelia, Piso, Marcella (even though she did not the nicest stuff), Diana (very quirky and I liked it), and DrususNot-so Favorite Character(s): Gaius, his wife, and Domitian (bastard)

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Arrrr, My Pirate Name

My pirate name is:

Bloody Charity Flint

Every pirate lives for something different. For some, it's the open sea. For others (the masochists), it's the food. For you, it's definitely the fighting. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!